by Gore, A. P.
“Senior Juan, you’ve betrayed the race of beasts from Ten Beast Valley. Do you have any explanation for bringing two humans into the sacred land of beasts?”
The Mother Fox snorted, as if mocking the idea of the sentence. “Sacred land. Chemanol, when will you open your eyes and see the truth?” The Mother Fox gazed at the group of nine Black Foxes still kneeling and growled.
One growl, and they all ran away with their tails between their legs. Kardash glanced reluctantly at Wei, but he too left the cave.
Wei’s face practically fell to the ground. If Kardash walked away, who would he fight? The White Soul Panther? He would be dead before he raised his sword.
“Senior Juan, whatever your reason is, you can’t bring humans inside Ten Beast Valley. That’s against the rules set up by Lord Mayhem.”
The Mother Fox chortled, a mocking sound. “That lunatic sealed us to become someone’s food, and you fools are still worshipping him like he gave you something precious.”
The White Soul Panther made a strange face. “Senior Juan, we can’t go against our ancestor’s teachings, and you’ve broken a rule. So, you’ll have to take punishment for it.”
“And what makes you believe you can punish me? I’m one of the five guardians of this place, and the other four are in seclusion. Even that bastard Bento has retreated to his cave.”
“I’m the head of the Ten Beast Valley Protection Force. I have every right to execute you on the spot.”
“Do you think you can kill me with your measly Soul Root? Or Boiling Blood Realm cultivation?”
Wei arched his brows. If the White Soul Panther was only in the Boiling Blood Realm, why did his intuition warn him of severe danger? At first, he’d thought the White Soul Panther was in the Heart Blood Realm, at least.
“No. I came prepared.” The White Soul Panther grew in size, reaching twenty-feet-tall in an instant. Raising his paw, he conjured a purple metal spear that emitted a purple light, but he made sure he didn’t touch the spear with his paws. An energy seal protected him from the spear itself. A formless pressure pulsed from the spear and enveloped everyone in a ten-foot radius around it. Even though Wei was at least hundred feet away, he felt a huge pressure settling on his soul and body. Unfortunately, Sun Nuan was only fiftyish feet away. She dropped on her knees, bleeding from her nostrils.
The White Soul Panther stabbed the spear in the ground close to the Mother Fox and retreated quickly, a pained expression on his face. The spear started emitting a strange purple light as if charging itself.
Now Wei realized why his intuition had warned him. It was this spirit artifact. It could affect one’s soul and body both. Wei tensed, and then he charged forward to pull Sun Nuan farther away from the spear. If she was exposed to this pressure for long, her soul would be damaged and she might not form a soul space in her whole life. He was better off, as he already had a soul space and a divine sense—despite being sealed at the moment.
A few more days. He sighed helplessly.
“The Purple Soul Spear. You even got your hands on the holy weapon.” The Mother Fox grunted, her voice becoming weak. Despite getting rid of the poison in her body, she was still suffering the aftereffects of the poison. In normal circumstances, she would have to rest for a few weeks to get better. But there was no time for her to get better.
Before he could take a step toward Sun Nuan, he saw the little fox leaping toward her mother.
Wei frowned. What was that stupid fox doing?
As she charged forward, the pressure on her body intensified. All her cute fur stuck to her skin like someone had glued it to her. Thirty feet from the spear, her skin cracked and her blood vessels bled. In less than a breath, she had turned into a blood demon fox. However, she stopped ten feet away from the spear, as if she had reached her limit.
Wei’s chest tightened. Not because he was afraid of the spirit artifact, but because he again realized how fragile he was in front of a powerhouse. If he compared his current life with his previous life, he hadn’t faced so many high-level cultivators while he was still in the qi Refinement Realm. Compared to his last life, this life was crazy fucking shit! Every other day, he met a new powerhouse. Bone Baptization Realm experts were like clouds in the sky.
He wondered if reincarnation was a blessing or a curse?
The Mother Fox wailed. “Chemanol, keep the holy weapon away from my daughter.” She tried to get to her feet, but she was weak. Very weak. Even cursing loudly seemed to exhaust her badly. It was clear she was no match for the White Soul Panther in her current condition. Even a realm lower than her, the White Soul Panther had every means of killing her.
And if she died, Wei and Sun Nuan would die too.
Wei’s mind raced, thinking of a solution. All the while, he continued moving toward Sun Nuan, closer to the Purple Soul Spear.
System: Soul pressure detected. Power source absorption is increased by 0.1%.
What! Wei stared, dumbfounded at the message floating in his mind. A crazy idea struck him, and he charged forward.
Chapter 65
Soul Exterminating Beam
With every step he took, the pressure on his body and soul increased exponentially. By the time Li Wei reached twenty feet from the purple spear, he could see the rocky ground beyond it had depressed slightly. If the rocky surface of the earth couldn’t withstand the pressure, would he be able to?
Taking a deep breath, he inhaled courage from the cold air inside the cave and took another step.
His dantian pulsed with a strange response and pushed an extra thread of pure qi inside his qi channel. It was his eighth qi revolution. It had been stimulated by the physical pressure the spear exuded, while the system was stimulated by the soul pressure, raising his absorption rate to 0.4% instantly.
His lips curled in a smile. This was working. In fact, this was better than a battle.
Or maybe not.
As he trudged forward, resisting the deterrence, the physical pressure increased twofold, and the blood vessels below his eyes ruptured. He probably looked like a demon. More blood vessels followed them, some under the skin of his palm, and some below the skin of his feet. By the time he reached seventeen feet away from the swear, it felt like thousands of ants roamed under his skin, biting him.
When he reached fourteen feet’s distance, his breath became ragged and his steps turned into a painful drag.
Yet he dragged on, thinking about the little fox’s condition. If he was facing so much pain despite his body cultivation, what must be the little fox be facing? She was ten feet from the spear, and her body was already in a mangled state.
Two more steps, and it was as if a mountain had settled on his soul and crushed it under immense weight. He was still fifteen feet from the spear. Grabbing his knees, he tried to stabilize his trembling legs. They were on the verge of giving out. He wished he had his body cultivation active so he could burst some blood pearls and gain some strength to walk forward.
Damn this spear. It had turned his life into resistance training, reminding of the running he’d done to comprehend Basic Movement Art and still failed.
No, this wouldn’t do. He had to move forward until he reach an optimal distance to break through, and to do that he needed to divert some of his pure qi to his legs and strengthen them.
Fuck! He cursed inside his mind. He was doing it all wrong. How naïve was he?
When he’d practiced his Basic Movement Art, he’d burned blood pearls to increase his speed, but that was all wrong. Basic Movement Art was a martial skill, and blood pearls were a product of body cultivation art. Those two things didn’t overlap. Instead, he should have used his pure qi to strengthen his legs.
Closing his eyes, he focused on his dantian and willed a small stream of pure qi toward his leg. At first his qi didn’t respond to his order because all of his attention was focused on the eighth qi revolution his qi was performing. That was the most important thing, but it still lacked the catalyst of pressure he needed
, and his only chance was to take a few more steps and bear the pressure from the spirit artifact.
Biting his lower lip, he focused hard and willed his qi to move toward his leg meridians. Sweat poured down his face like he was taking a bath, and the pressure kept making his legs buckle. If this continued, his knees would break and he would crash to the ground.
“Damn you!” He growled in pain and finally pushed a little thread of pure qi into his leg meridian. The trickle of pure qi traveled through his leg meridians and then spread through his exhausted leg muscles, giving them a new surge of strength.
Wei sighed inwardly. He wished he could take a break and catch his breath. This was tougher than it looked.
But it had worked. His legs weren’t giving up anymore, and his eighth qi revolution wasn’t disturbed. Slowly, he took the next few steps, reaching thirteen feet’s distance from the spear.
System: Current absorption rate for power source: 2% every 10 days.
Wei was stupefied. He’d effectively doubled his Soul Stone absorption rate by 100%. If he could stand here for fifty days, he could finish the whole process.
But that wasn’t possible. Shaking his head, he pushed that thought away and took a deep breath, letting the cold air jolt the muddy thoughts away from his mind. The pain was already unbearable. If he stood here for more than a few minutes, he might go crazy. Or die.
Ten minutes and three steps later, he reached twelve feet from the spear. As he progressed further, his steps became smaller and the time between each step became larger. The little fox lay unconscious two feet from him. He intended to throw her out and see how much closer he could get to the spear. When it became unbearable, he would run backward. This thing wasn’t something he could handle in his current condition. If it wasn’t for his Blood Essence Body helping him passively, he wouldn’t even come close to this place. He remembered his blood continued to expand and replenish, and though he’d lost connection with his Physical Root, that didn’t mean his body cultivation had stopped working passively.
It took him ten more minutes to reach the little fox, but everything changed the moment he stepped next to her. He could see the Mother Fox’s pitiful eyes and the White Soul Panther’s blue eyes fixed on his. One pair of eyes was begging while the other showed arrogance.
However, their eyes didn’t concern him. It was the twofold increase in soul and body pressure that made his knees weak and his soul wail in pain. It reminded him of the moment he’d touched the first Soul Stone in the Ancient Ruins. His soul was being pulled in different directions by hundreds of different stages. It was on the verge of breaking.
System: Current absorption rate for power source: 5% every 10 days.
This was crazy, but it wasn’t just crazy. His dantian shook violently when the pure qi from his eighth qi revolution returned to it. Once again, a strand of pure qi moved into his qi path and his ninth qi revolution started.
A premonition hit him, and when he looked at the source, he found two blue eyes staring at him with malice.
“Soul Exterminating Beam,” the White Soul Panther shouted and threw a purple Soul Stone at the spear.
Fear gripped Wei’s mind. That bastard panther had activated a skill from the spirit artifact, and if the Qi Stone reached the spear, everyone in a twenty-foot radius around the artifact would be dead.
Chapter 66
Decision
Sun Nuan wiped at the blood leaking from her eyes with her thumbs. It hurt like hell.
“Stupid thing.” She glared at the purple spear stabbed in the rocky ground around a hundred feet away. Looking at the spear again from this far, a hint of tension gripped her heart. When the pressure first descended on her body, it’d felt like she would die. Since getting away from the spear, the pressure had subsided, but her heart still palpitated and her hands trembled a little.
That was close. She patted her chest continuously, as if to soothe her flustered heart. This place was crazy. Every other beast could talk and had an unfathomable cultivation level. If these beasts got out, the Mortal Realm would be in trouble. Big trouble. Especially her State of Zin.
Then she saw stupid Wei Lin walking toward the purple spear.
“. . .” Nothing came out when she tried to shout, as her throat resisted moving.
Helplessly, reached out as if she could stop Wei Lin. But his deep blue eyes didn’t turn her way, and he continued running in slow motion toward the spear.
Twenty feet from the spear, he halted, his face twisting in pain. That seemed to be his limit, and he was already panting.
What did he want? Why was he running toward his death?
Her stomach was caught by a surprise tremor. Was he suicidal?
The more she thought about it, she found it possible. When they’d met in childhood, he had jumped in front of a bear to protect her. No rationally thinking kid would do that. Then a few more scenes flashed in her mind. He’d been reckless in every scene, jumped into situations that would endanger his life. In every situation he came out half dead.
If he wasn’t suicidal, what was it? Why did he keep acting like the protagonist of a novel with an immortality cheat code? Didn’t he understand this was not a novel? If he died, he wouldn’t come back.
Come back, she whispered in her heart. He should at least let her say thanks for what he’d done for her in their childhood.
But he didn’t hear her silent pleas and pushed forward. Soon, he was bleeding from everywhere. His skin cracked, and he turned into a bloody mess again.
But he prevailed and reached Miss Jiya.
A ray of hope lit in Sun Nuan’s heart. He might come back after picking up Miss Jiya. That should be it. He wasn’t throwing away his life.
However, before he could do anything further, the white panther beast threw a purple-colored stone at the purple spear.
Sun Nuan didn’t know what would happen next, but she knew it wouldn’t be good for Wei Lin.
“Run! Come back, you idiot!” She shouted from the bottom of her heart.
Bending, Wei Lin picked up Miss Jiya’s fragile body and tossed her toward Sun Nuan. Then he stood there staring at the purple spear like an idiot.
She was right. He was suicidal.
Tiang Fu was enjoying the aroma of Wood Flavored Karasha Tea with elder Wen Shang when a junior disciple walked in.
“Elder Wen, senior brother Tiang, this lowly one has one news about perpetrator.”
“Speak.” Tiang Fu straightened his back. It had been two days, and he had heard nothing about that bastard.
“His real name is Li Wei, and he is from Old Martial City’s Li clan.”
Elder Wen shook his head disdainfully. “What does that have to do with us? We want to capture that brat, not kill his whole family.”
“Elder Wen, this Li family is about to compete in a Devil Cicada Challenge with the Du family, and there is evidence that Li Wei would join that. In fact, his master killed a Du family’s Bone Baptization Realm elder, so he might be there as well.”
Elder Wen continued shaking his head.
“Elder Wen. I think we should go there and check this out.” Tiang Fu’s eyes shone with a strange light.
“Junior Tiang, we should wait here. That brat must come out of Ten Beast Valley someday. And it’s not appropriate for us to meddle in another country’s business. If the sect finds out about it, it will bring a lot of trouble.”
Tiang Fu shook his head in disdain. “Elder Wen. What if he comes out of the valley from some other place? We must take this chance and head to Old Martial City and see justice served for my brother. Without killing this brat, I can’t sleep in peace.”
Elder Wen’s face went blank for a moment.
Tiang Fu snorted inwardly. Although Wen Shang was a Marrow Cleansing Realm elder, he lacked brains.
“Junior Tiang is correct. We should capture his family and wait for him.”
Tiang Fu shook his head. “No, elder Wen. We shouldn’t do anything rash. Old Martial City
is near the Divine Fragrance Palace, and they are already pissed off with our sect for stealing their Alchemy Comprehension Tower entrance tokens.”
“But senior apprentice brother, if you enter the State of Zin, wouldn’t that be considered a breach of rules?” the disciple asked in a worried tone.
“Yes, that would be a problem. But only if they know we are from the Destiny Mirror Sect. We’ll sneak in as mortals, capture this kid, and sneak out,” Tiang Fu answered after a moment. Imperial politics were complex. Every major sect in the Martial Realm controlled one or two empires, and they had an explicit rule forbidding killing or invading the mortal people of other empires. Mortals could fight amongst themselves, but the sects were forbidden from making any major moves, and the State of Zin and the White Feather Empire were fierce enemies. So, all sect disciples whose branches were in the White Feather Kingdom were barred from entering the State of Zin. Getting caught would cause a big problem and might endanger their life.
“If they find out we have sneaked into their area, they will make a big issue of it. We can’t let them do that. And if we capture the Li family, Li Wei might run away when he learns of our actions. We have to follow rules and capture Li Wei. Doing that won’t cause any issue with the Divine Fragrance Palace or the State of Zin.” He was disappointed in Wen Shang. How could he think of capturing a mortal family in front of a junior from the sect?
“Then what does junior Tiang suggest?”
“We sneak into the ranks of the Du clan by offering them some pills. This way, Li Wei won’t run away and will fall into our trap, and with you as backup, we won’t have to worry about his master either.”
Elder Wen smiled like an idiot. “Junior Tiang has a point. Let’s do that.”
Chapter 67
Primordial Blood Palace Evolves
